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The Indian team might be a star-studded one, but John Wright, their coach, has warned that a lack of consistency could cost anyone his place.”We don’t want players to rest on their laurels," said Wright, speaking to the press at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. "You need to be performing consistently all the time, and it’s important for the players who are playing for India to know that young and keen and hungry players will try and force themselves into the top side."Wright’s words were directed in part at the members of the India A squad, currently at the Academy for an 18-day training camp under their newly appointed coach, Sandeep Patil. India A begin a tour of England on June 22, which could be a make-or-break tour for some of them.Wright said: “It is very good from my point of view because I get to work with some of the boys who might have an opportunity to force themselves into the top side. I am looking forward to it.”Both Wright and Patil will work at preparing the team for the six-week tour, but Wright was not apprehensive about dichotomies in coaching styles, pointing out that both he and Patil, after all, had a common goal. “I have played against him (Patil)," said Wright. "I admire him for the job he has done for the Kenyan team. It’s important that coaches learn from each other.”

Former New Zealand captain Lee Germon may return to first-class cricket this summer.Germon, who led the State Otago Volts in last summer’s domestic one-day series, is under some pressure to be available for the four-dayers this year.He will turn out next week for Otago in a four-day match against the New Zealand Academy side at Lincoln next week.The match is important for several reasons. It will give the Otago players a rare early chance to get some match play on grass while from a New Zealand perspective the game is part of all-rounder Chris Cairns’ rehabilitation from knee surgery.Otago coach Glenn Turner is keen for both sides to get the most from the match and there is likely to be flexibility regarding its day-to-day operation. For example, if both sides have been bowled out over the first three days there is then the option to play a one-day game.And Turner will be interested in the form of three of the Academy players as well as his own selection with the McCullum brothers, Nathan and Brendon, and Warren McSkimming all lining up for the Academy XI.The match will be played at Lincoln from October 2-5.The State Otago Volts squad for the game will be: Lee Germon (captain), Martyn Croy, Craig Cumming, Chris Gaffaney, Mike Hesson, Andrew Hore, Nathan Morland, Shayne O’Connor, Craig Pryor, Bradley Scott, David Sewell, Jordan Sheed, Scott Waide. Dick Quirk and Evan Marshall have been bracketed due to fitness concerns.Unavailable due to injury or other commitments are James McMillan, Robbie Lawson, Kerry Walmsley and Mark Richardson, who will be involved in his own programme at the academy.

ScorecardAlex Blake limited the damage [file picture]•Getty Images

Kent slumped to a disappointing 51-run home defeat in the Royal London Cup with more than 12 overs to spare to allow Lancashire – the team they will meet in next Saturday’s NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final at Canterbury – to land a resounding win.In seemingly ideal batting conditions, they made a complete hash of their target of 259 virtually from ball one and but for Alex Blake’s belligerent 89, would have fallen woefully short .Joe Denly was first to go, driving hard at a wide one from Kyle Jarvis to be snaffled at slip without scoring. Daniel Bell-Drummond (30) appeared well set until a Jordan Clark yorker ricocheted via the back pad onto the base of off stump.Sam Billings, driving on the charge at slow left-armer Stephen Parry, picked out Steven Croft at short extra cover then Sam Northeast (36) fenced at one from Clark to be caught behind.A ‘yes, no, sorry’ moment between Darren Stevens and Fabian Cowdrey ended with both batsmen stood at the non-striker’s end and Cowdrey’s run out , with Stevens soon to follow, made matters worse.Matt Coles heaved across the line against James Faulkner to spoon a catch to mid-on, then James Tredwell became the second run out victim when Petersen’s direct hit from point left him short of his ground.Alex Blake moved to 49 by taking 17 off four successive balls from Parry, only for Mitch Claydon to chip back a return catch and leave Kent nine down.After a 41-ball 50 with three fours and three sixes, Blake added a further three maximums in racing to 89 before being bowled when attempting a slog sweep against Faulkner.Batting first after losing the toss Lancashire’s top order struggled on a white pitch that, possibly through early morning dew, offered some early lateral seam movement to Kent’s new ball attack.Ashwell Prince got off the mark with a sweetly-timed push against Mitch Claydon in the third over but, without addition, nicked an ambitious drive against Coles to James Tredwell at second slip.In Coles’s next over Karl Brown feathered a tentative push through to the keeper Billings to leave Lancashire in trouble at 25 for two at the end of their first 10-over powerplay.Claydon gave way at the Pavilion End to Matt Hunn, who, with his second ball, had Alviro Petersen caught down the leg-side by a tumbling Billings as the South African right-hander aimed to glance.Kent should have claimed a fourth victim in the 23rd over when Liam Livingstone’s top-edged sweep off Tredwell sailed to deep mid-wicket where, somewhat inexplicably, Denly allowed a simple chance to slip through his grasp and over the ropes.Livingstone, in form of late for his Lancashire League side and the county second string, took advantage by reaching his maiden 50 for the Lancashire first team from 56 balls and with two sixes and three fours.Livingstone and Croft added 100 inside 20 overs with Croft reaching his half-century from 76-balls with only three fours but their 112-partnership ended soon after when Croft was caught low by a diving Stevens at point to give Hunn a second fortunate wicket.Livingstone was only nine short of his hundred when he toe-ended a return catch to the bowler, Stevens, when attempting a ‘Dilshan scoop’, then Faulkner wafted across the line of a full one from Coles to go leg before.After a cracking 35-ball 50 with eight fours, Alex Davies holed out to deep cover off Stevens and Parry was caught behind against Coles after throwing the kitchen sink at an attempted drive. Coles, the pick of the home attack, finished with 4 for 34.Clark skied to long-off to give Claydon his first wicket in the penultimate over but, given the conditions, Lancashire’s total of 258 for 9 still looked a below par score.Livingstone said : “It’s a massive win for us because we came here knowing we needed victory to keep ourselves in the competition. I’ve tried to change a few things with my technique and it would seem that work is starting to pay off. We know we’re playing Kent again here next week so I’d like to think I’ve given myself the best chance of playing in that one too.”Blake admitted: “Although we were only 50 short it felt like a lot more somehow. We need to win every game we can in this competition and that defeat means we’ll probably need to win our two remaining matches.”

A century from Chirag Khurana and three wickets from the in-form Anupam Sanklecha left Maharashtra in a dominant position against Assam at the IIT-Chemplast ground in Chennai. Khurana, who began the day batting on 14, finished unbeaten on 112 as he helped Maharashtra’s last five wickets add 190 to their overnight total. They were eventually bowled out for 542. Khurana stretched his overnight partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman Vishant More (48) from 25 to 124, and added a further 68 with Sanklecha for the eighth wicket. Abu Nechim Ahmed and Syed Mohammad were Assam’s most successful bowlers, picking up three wickets apiece.Sanklecha – who picked up two seven-fors in his most recent game, against Vidarbha – then came back and ripped out three wickets to leave Assam 13 for 2 and then 56 for 3, before the opener Rishav Das (53*) added an unbroken 76 for the fourth wicket with Kunal Saikia (38*) to steer them to 132 for 3 at stumps, still trailing by 410.Rishabh Pant continued his run of form, scoring a rapid half-century to help Delhi take the first-innings lead against Rajasthan in Wayanad. Resuming on 37 for 0, Delhi were bowled out for 307, with seamers Pankaj Singh and Tanvir Ul-Haq taking three wickets each. Rajasthan ended the day 19 for 1 in their second innings and trailing by 50.Delhi’s openers stretched their overnight partnership to 52 before both fell in the space of four balls, Gautam Gambhir for 10 and Shikhar Dhawan for 38. Unmukt Chand (32) and Nitish Rana (24) added 51 for the third wicket, before Pant walked in at No. 5 and proceeded to score 75 of Delhi’s next 93 runs. He was fifth out with Delhi still trailing by 42, having scored his runs off 59 balls, with nine fours and three sixes. Delhi lost two more quick wickets and were 204 for 7 before Milind Kumar (42) and Sumit Narwal (34 off 25) steered them into the lead with a 54-run eighth-wicket stand. With Vikas Tokas (18) and Nitin Saini (16*) making useful contributions as well, Delhi stretched their lead to 69.Half-centuries from Biplab Samantray and Saurabh Rawat hauled Odisha out of a tight spot and into a sizeable lead against Karnataka at the Palam ground in Delhi. Replying to Karnataka’s 179, Odisha were 140 for 6 when wicketkeeper Rawat joined Samantray. They proceeded to add 106 for the seventh wicket in 34.4 overs before Samantray was out to the legspinner Shreyas Gopal for 58.Shreyas then dismissed Suryakant Pradhan (23) and Rawat, for 85 off 124 balls, to end the day with figures of 5 for 73. Odisha were 318 for 9 at stumps, leading by 139, with Basant Mohanty and Alok Mangaraj adding an unbroken 26 for the last wicket.A 171-run opening stand between Sanjay Ramaswamy and Faiz Fazal moved Vidarbha within sight of taking the first-innings lead against Saurashtra at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. At stumps, Vidarbha were 242 for 3, trailing by 59.Saurashtra had to wait till the 59th over of the day to taste any success, and used nine bowlers. Eventually, it was the part-timer Prerak Mankad who had Sanjay lbw for 77 to claim his first wicket in his third first-class match. Another part-timer, Amitoze Singh, then dismissed Fazal for 94, before the offspinner Vandit Jivranjani, sent back Ganesh Satish to have Vidarbha 223 for 3. Shalabh Shrivastava (31*) and Jitesh Sharma (6* off 41) saw out the rest of the day, putting on an unbroken partnership of 19 in 13.4 overs.

Muttiah Muralitharan has been ruled out of the first three one-day internationals against England. Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain, confirmed that Muralitharan’s bicep injury had not healed.”We don’t want to rush him,” Jayawardene said. “He’s almost there, but we just have to make a decision whether we would like to risk him like this soon after injury. We will make sure that we will make a sensible decision.” Sri Lanka’s priority is to get him fit for their trip to Australia which follows almost immediately after the five-match series against England.Such is the shadow that Muralitharan casts over matches that at the press conference today Paul Collingwood, England’s captain, seemed reluctant to believe that he would not be playing. “We’re preparing as if Murali is playing and we will still prepare in this way,” he said.Sri Lanka called Kaushal Lokuarachchi into the squad as a replacement. A legspinner, he has 19 ODIs to his name and can more than hold his own with the bat. The Guardian reported that his inclusion was too much for Trevor Bayliss, Sri Lanka’s new Australian coach, who told the media, with some uncertainty, that Muralitharan’s stand-in was someone called Wakaroochi.Before the first game England take on a Sri Lanka Cricket XI, captained by Avishka Gunawardene, in a one-day warm-up match at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Friday. Besides Gunawardene, England’s opponents include seven players with international limited-overs experience, the most prominent among them being Malinga Bandara, the legspinner, who lost his spot in the national squad to Lokuarachchi.Gihan de Silva and Indika de Saram will vie for the wicketkeepers slot. The selection of de Saram, 34, comes as a surprise, considering that he played his last ODI in 2001.Kevin Pietersen is likely to captain England for the first time after Collingwood was hit by a stomach bug. Collingwood, Stuart Broad, Luke Wright and Alastair Cook are all struggling with what their coach, Peter Moores, described as a “stomach illness”. The match will also be a significant moment for Dimitri Mascarenhas, who will play for the first time in his country of origin.Sri Lanka Cricket XI Avishka Gunawardene, Viraj Perera, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilina Kadamby, Gihan de Silva, Gihan Rupasinghe, Malinga Bandara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ranga Dias, Akalanka Ganegama, Sujeewa de Silva, Ashan Priyaranjan, Indika de Saram (wk), Lasith Fernando.England XI (probable) Kevin Pietersen (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Phil Mustard (wk), Monty Panesar, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett.

A leading British newspaper has claimed the London bombers were initially ordered by Al-Qaeda to target the England and Australian teams during the 2005 Ashes series.Quoting a friend of one of the terrorists, said Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer allegedly received the orders at a training camp near Kotli, in Kashmir, during December 2004. The claims have been made by a family friend of Hasib Hussain, the bus bomber who killed 13 people. The friend, who is willing to pass his information to the police, uses the pseudonym Ahmed Hafiz.According to Hafiz, 32, the bombers were instructed to get jobs as stewards at Edgbaston and spray sarin gas inside the changing rooms. The second Test between England and Australia began on August 4.Hafiz, whose family have known the Hussains for 25 years, said he had received details of the bombers’ visit from members of his extended family, who were involved in running the camp. He claimed Tanweer, 22, objected to the plot, possibly because he himself was a cricketer. He was told by a witness Tanweer argued with Khan, 30, and a scuffle between them had to be broken up by a minder.

Australia A 120 for 6 (Jaques 56*) v Pakistan A
ScorecardGiven the decline in fortunes that Australia’s senior team has suffered in recent weeks, their A-team tour to Pakistan has suddenly taken on an added significance. But on the evidence of the first day’s play at Rawalpindi, only Phil Jaques has anything to be proud of, as their top-order was torn apart by Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul.By the close of a truncated day, Jaques was unbeaten on 56 having opened the batting, but his team had slipped to 120 for 6. Nazir, with 3 for 28, was the pick of the pacemen, and it wasn’t until Cameron White (23) helped add 45 for the sixth wicket, that they were able to reach triple figures.Michael Hussey, who was tipped by many pundits to take Matthew Hayden’s place for the current Oval Test, managed 2 before he was bowled by Nazir, while Brad Hodge, Dominic Thornley and Shane Watson managed only 12 runs between them. Brad Haddin, Australia’s reserve wicketkeeper, made just 9 before falling to Sami.

Ajit Agarkar, discarded from the Indian team for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, is all set to ply his trade at Lord’s. He is due to fly out from Mumbai soon to join Middlesex for a one-month stint that ends on August 20.If Agarkar joins Middlesex, pending permission from the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, he will become the first Indian to play for Middlesex, the county that plays at the home of cricket. He has already informed the SK Nair, the board secretary, of his wish to turn out for Middlesex, and the necessary paperwork is being processed. Agarkar’s contract with Middlesex is carefully drafted, however, allowing him to be released at any stage should the Indian team require his services.Agarkar is no stranger to Lord’s – he made a stroke-filled maiden Test century there in 2002 when India lost to England by 170 runs. This stint will be Agarkar’s first in county cricket.The opportunity to play for Middlesex came about when Nantie Hayward and Lance Klusener, originally signed as overseas professionals, were called up by South Africa to tour Sri Lanka. While it is not yet clear what all matches Agarkar will play, Middlesex are scheduled to play five National League (one-day) and two County Championship (four-day) matches between now and August 20. Should Middlesex qualify for the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup, Agarkar will get a chance to biff the ball around with all the enthusiasm that brought him his fastest one-day score, an astonishing half-century off just 21 balls against Zimbabwe at Rajkot.Middlesex can certainly do with some perking up. They’ve won only one of their eight county championship matches this season. But Agarkar’s arrival will also coincide with that of a certain Glenn McGrath, who has agreed to a month of county cricket between July 18 and August 15, a spell which will include four County Championship matches and five National League games. One way or another, it promises to be a mouthwatering partnership.

Just two days after the Delhi High Court allowed him to play domestic cricket again, Ajay Jadeja won two minor battles both on and off the field. Playing for Air Sahara in his comeback match in a local day-night tournament in New Delhi, Jadeja slammed 45 and a 78-ball 101 in consecutive games over the weekend.There was more good news for Jadeja today, when the Supreme Court declined the Indian board’s request to stay the High Court order and prevent Jadeja from appearing in any more domestic matches.The 1000 fans who turned up to watch Jadeja’s comeback were treated to some entertaining batting, as Jadeja belted eight fours and six sixes in his century on Sunday.Expectedly, Jadeja was pleased with his weekend’s effort. “It’s great to be back. I still dream of playing for India again. Cricket remains my first love. I just want to play.”Jadeja had been banned by the Indian board (BCCI) for five years for alleged links with bookmakers, but the decision was overturned by the Delhi High Court after Jadeja appealed against the ruling. The court, however, stated that Jadeja’s return to international cricket remained the prerogative of the BCCI and the selection committee. Despite an encouraging return, Jadeja is a long way from achieving that goal.

SHANE WARNE walked out of Old Trafford after Australia’s World Cup match with West Indies two years ago, convinced he would be returning there the following sum mer as a Lancashire player.The world’s greatest leg-spinner and most charismatic cricketer had made his mind up that he was going to spend the summer of 2000 playing in English county cricket, and it looked as though the Red Rose County had won the battle for the most prized autograph in cricket.”I had a meeting with Jack Simmonds at Lancashire during the World Cup against the West Indies at Old Trafford. I left Lancashire probably thinking I would play there,” reveals Warne.But he hadn’t banked on persuasive powers of Robin Smith.”I’d known Judgie for a long time. Not really close, but I’d rubbed up against him in opposition at various times.” Once Smith knew it was Warne’s intention to play county cricket, he set to work on him like a dripping tap.”I spoke to Robin a few times on the phone and he just kept chipping away, saying ‘give us a chance before you sign.'” There was the now legendary meetings at a Buckingham Palace garden party with former Hampshire chairman Brian Ford, but the groundwork had been done. Warne was hooked.”There were two counties chasing me for last summer and three or four when I first hinted I might come over in 1994.”In the end, I didn’t come over for various reasons; injuries, the international schedule, birth of children. There were a lot of factors that cameinto it but last year was the right time.”What struck me about Hampshire was that they were a county who hadn’t had much success, they had a good group of young players who wanted to achieve something, and I wanted to come to a club that hadn’t tasted much successand try and take them to the top.”Unfortunately for Warne, that didn’t quite panout last year as Hampshire were relegated from the top flight of the National League, not that he could have done much more about it personally. You could stick Zinedine Zindane in the Exeter City midfield, but he wouldn’t get them into the Premiership, and thus it was with Warne.”I was disappointed last year. I could have gone to a bigger county where I perhaps would have had a lot of success, but I might not have enjoyed it,” said Warne.”Statistically I did very well with the most wickets in the First Division and nearly 500 runs, but I was disappointed. “I thought I could have done better. And I thought as a team we could have played a lot better.”There’s a lot of talented cricketers at Hampshire, it’s just a matter of getting consistency in the team and finding that balance between switching off and having the disciplines and all those things.”I would like to have the opportunity again because I think we could all do it a lot better.”If last summer was an uplifting experience for Warne, it was an education for many of Hampshire players, not all of them younger ones. All will say that they learned off him. His professionalism and his approach to every game was a cricket classroom.”I would like to think that some of the guys learned a bit last year, and there’s a lot more to learn,” says Warne who is eager to pass it on.”If the club want me back, the more opportunity we have to have time together as a team, the more we could learn together and do a lot better.”The $64,000 question is whether Warne will be back in 2003. Australia’s Sardine-tin Test schedule over the next 18 months rules out a return next summer, but Warne is keen to come back in 2003. He’s already had informal talks and made itclear that Hampshire would be his first choice of county.”I’ve spoken to a lot of people. Obviously they’re pretty keen, if everything works out depending on international schedules. “They’re showing a little bit of interest. I’ve shown a lot of interest to them and it’s a matter of finding out the balance. It might not be the right time for Hamsphire and they might want to go in another direction. Who knows?” says Warne, who was keen to shoot down one story doing the rounds, that he was coming back to Hampshire in 2003 as captain.”That’s not quite right,” he points out. “I was asked the question if I came back to Hampshire would I captain or consider the captaincy and my answer was whatever was best for the club, best for the county and for myself.”I didn’t say I wanted to come back and captain Hampshire. I said would love the opportunity to play for Hampshire again. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to do that again some way down the track and if the captaincy was an option I would consider it, if it was the best thing for the club.” One potential stumbling block to Warne’s return could be his chance to carve his name in cricket history.Having passed the 400 Test wicket mark in the Ashes series, Australia’s crowded schedule of the next 18 months could push him towards the magical 500-mark.Courtney Walsh has already beaten him to that, but if Warne could go down in legend as the first spinner to reach it, wouldn’t the temptationto reach out for it deflect his desire for another dose of county cricket?”Milestones and statistics have never been a driving force for me, “What you do is all about enjoyment. If you enjoy what you’re doing then you keep going. If you’re not enjoying it, it’s time to do something else.”At the moment I’m enjoying my cricket, I’m bowling probably better than I ever have. I can’t bowl any better than I did in the second innings at The Oval and the second innings at Trent Bridge.”No matter if it was ’92, ’93 or whenever it was, I can’t bowl any better than that, so it suggests to me that perhaps the best is yet to come. If that’sthe case then hopefully I can take a lot more wickets.”